Sound deadening device for musical instruments



L@ 1-1913 SR @www KR 9657i V39 J Xwwj Nov. 3, 1953 w. E. sTRoBAcH2,657,609

SOUND, DEADENING DEVICE FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Filed July 25 1951 23 /4H afm/enfer Qz//zzzm 5V/waa@ MQ@ 457 gary f lPatented Nov. 3, 1953UNITED HSTATES PATENT OFFICE SOUND DEADENING DEVICE FOR MUSICALINSTRUMENTS 4 Claims.

My invention relates to reducing and deadeni ing the sound produced onmusical instruments.

The principal object I have in mind is to provide a means whereby aperson can'practice on a musical instrument without having the soundtherefrom interfere with persons in relatively close proximity such asadjoining rooms, apartments, buildings or the like.

To acquire and maintain any degree of proiiciency in the use of amusical instrument requires continuous practicing. These periods oipractice necessitate hard work and concentration and many hours lmust bedevoted to the repeated playing of scales, sustained tones and the like.It is to be understood that all practicing is not conned to playingpleasant harmonies and l obviously the continued repetition of tones andsounds produced in practice can and do become monotonous not only to theperson producing them but even more so to others who may be withinhearing range. Certain instruments create sounds that carry alongdistance and one practicing on the instruments, such as a trumpet orsaxophone, can cause annoyance to an entir neighborhood.

Knowledge of the 'fact that the noise of one's instrument is disturbingto'others and may even be considered objectionable by some isapsychological drawback to the musician who nds it necessary to spendmany hours each day perfecting and maintaining his skill. The inhibitionof practice noise is a real problem and especially so for the individualwho has no desire to overstrain the patience and tolerance of hisneighbors. 'He can, of course seek out a vsound proof vroom'or perhapsmute his tones in a clothes filled closet but the former is notgenerally available and the latter is far from convenient.

Therefore, the object of my invention, yas I have stated above, is tomake it possible for a musician to practice his instrument free from thehihihition that the sounds he produces will be annoying to others. Ipropose 'to accomplish this objective by providing an enclosure for theinstrument that includes sound deadenng properties in its construction.

Another object of my invention is to provide a sound deadening enclosurefora musical instrument that will not interfere with the user hearing'the notes he produces but will limit the carrying effect of the tones sothat they will be substantially confined within a relatively small areain the immediate vicinity of where they are produced. Y

A still further object of this invention is to produce a device of theabove class that will not interfere with the ngering of the keys orvalves of the instrument so enclosed.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a sound deadeningdevice having the above characteristics that may be easily moved orcarried.

Still other objects of this invention are to provide a sound deadener ofthe above classes that can be adapted to different type instruments andI r l that are equally serviceable for the novice or the professionalmusician.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combinationof the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are.attained as hereinafter more .fully set forth. pointed out in myclaims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of my sound deaden ing case adapted for usewith such straight reed Wind instruments as a clarinet, sopranosaxophone and the like,

Fig. 2 is an enlargedlongitudinal section view taken on the line 2-2 ofFig. 1, with the broken lines indicating an instrument placed therein,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional View of this sound deadenertaken on the line 3--3 oi' Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4 is an illustration of this device adapted for use with asaxophone.

Referring to the drawings and particularly Figs. 1-3, 'I have preferablyselected a straight wind instrument I0 by which to illustrate myinvention. It is to be understood, however, that the principle of myinvention is not limited in use to the particular instrument shown. Myinvention lies in boxing in the sound from the instrument and for this`purpose I provide an enclosed case or housing II that has a removablelid or cover I2. In the construction of the case I I, including thecover I2, the inside is linedwith any suitable material I3 having sounddeadening properties and in arranging such material I3 I leave a deadair space I4 between the material I3 and the inner walls lof the case II as shown in Figs. 2 and'3. The overall shape of the case II will varydepending upon the instrument it is designed to be used on. In Figs. 1 3an elongated rectangular case is shown that is narrower at one end thanat the other and is particularly adapted for straight Wind reedinstruments such as clarinets and soprano saxophones. These instrumentswill emit sounds at diierent places throughout their length dependingupon the opening and closing of different pads and consequently todeaden the sounds therefrom as contemplated by my invention it isnecessary to have all portions of the instruments where sound mayemerge, contained within the case I I. This is done by removing thecover I2 and placing the instrument I0 therein as shown in Fig. 2. Forthis purpose an opening I5 is provided in the narrow end of the case IIso that the neck of the instrument I0 can be projected therethroughsuilciently to support the mouthpiece I6 as illustrated. It is assumed.of course, that the mouthpiece will be mounted after the instrument isencased to avoid any damage to the reed. The opening I5 is sufficientlylarger than the neck of the instrument to be encased to eliminate anybinding eiect thereon and for the purpose of closing the gap at thispoint after the instrument in encased a Washer-like resilient insert l1is mounted within the opening I 5 as shown in Fig. 1. This insert Il maybe of any suitable material such as sponge rubber or the like and willprovide a snug but yielding enclosure about the neck to mute the soundat this point. A pair of stop rest members I8 are detachably secured tothe inside of the wider end of the case H to serve as rests for the bellportion I9 of the instrument. These stops I8 are shown mounted by boltsand wing nuts 2o and may be adjusted as to their spaced relationship toaccommodate bell portions i9 of different sizes.

On the respective sides of the casing l i suitable hand openings 2l and22 are provided. It is observed that the opening 2! is closer to theopening I than the opening 22 to correspond to the relative position ofthe left and right hand of the person playing the instrument. Theopenings 2| and 22 are large enough to allow easy insertion of thehands. Each of the hand openings is provided respectively with theresilient Washer-like inserts 23 and 24 of the type described above. Aplurality of slits 25 radially extending from the openings in theinserts 23 and 24 is preferably provided to eliminate any binding orrestriction on the wrists of the hands.

Once enclosed, an instrument as shown in Fig. 2, is played in its usualmanner. Preferably the casing is made from suitable lightweight materialso as not to become burdensome but it is noted that it may be desirableto use a supporting stand or the like to avoid any unnecessary fatiguefrom the extra weight of this silencing device. When using thisinvention the tone will be audible to the maker, though muled, and canbe confined generally to the room where the practicing is being done.The hand holes should be large enough to allow quick and easy withdrawaland inser tion of the hand as when turning a page of music.

In Fig. 4 I show my invention constructed to fit the shape of asaxophone and except for its adaptation to the contours of a difierentinstrument its construction is the same as described above.

It will be understood, as previously pointed out, that my inventionembodies the idea of encasing those portions of a musical instrumentfrom which sound will emerge. In the case of a soprano saxophone,clarinet, alto saxophone and the like this will necessitate an enclosurefor substantially the entire instrument. However, in the case of atrumpet, trombone or the like, where sound emerges only from the bellportion, my invention can be applied by a relatively smaller caseenclosing only the bell portion of such instruments.

It will be apparent that while my invention can be adapted to most anytype musical instrument, it will nd its most practical application whenused with smaller instruments and preferably those of the wind variety.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my sounddeadening device for musical instruments without departing from the realspirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover bymy claims, any modied forms of structure or use of mechanicalequivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. A sound deadening device for a musical wind instrument comprising, acase member, sound deadening properties provided in said case member,said case member adapted to enclose a musical wind instrument to muteand Inutile the sounds produced thereon, two openings in said casemember adapted to provide a means for insertion of the hands of a personplaying the enclosed instruments, said openings spaced so that when apersons hands are inserted therein they will be in a normal position forplaying the enclosed instrument, and a third opening in said case memberto provide a means for the protrusion of the mouthpiece of a musicalWind instrument encased therein.

2. A sound deadening device for a musical wind instrument comprising, acase member, sound deadening properties provided in said case member,saidcase member adapted to enclose a musical wind instrument to mute andmule the sounds produced thereon, two openings in said case memberadapted to provide a means for insertion of the hands of a personplaying the enclosed instruments, said openings spaced so that when apersons hands are inserted therein they will be in a normal position forplaying the enclosed instrument, a third opening in said case member toprovide a means for the protrusion of the mouthpiece of a musical windinstrument encased therein, a iexible washer-like insert secured withineach of said first two mentioned openings to provide a snug but yieldingenclosure about the wrists of a person whose hands are inserted in saidopenings, and a exible washer-like insert secured within said thirdopening to provide a snug but yielding enclosure about that portion ofan instrument protruding therefrom.

3. In a device for muting and muiing the sounds produced on a musicalwind instrument, a case member, sound deadening properties provided insaid case member, means for opening and closing said case member, aplurality of openings in said case member, a washer-like exible insertarranged within each of said openings, said device constructed andarranged so that a musical wind instrument can be encased thereinwhereby the mouthpiece of such instrument will protrude from one of saidopenings and the other openings provide a means by which the hands of aperson can be inserted into the case members for the purpose ofmanipulating the encased instrument.

4. In a device for muting and muiiiing the sounds produced on a musicalwind instrument, a case member, sound deadening properties provided insaid case member, means for opening and closing said case member, aplurality of openings in said case member, a washer-like eXible insertarranged within each of said openings, said device constructed andarranged so that a musical Wind instrument can be encased thereinwhereby the mouthpiece of such instrument will protrude from one of saidopenings and the other openings provide a means by which the hands of aperson can be inserted into the case member for the purpose ofmanipulating the encased instrument, said openings through which thehands of a person are inserted being spaced so that the hands wheninserted therethrough are in a normal position for playing theinstrument encased.

WILLIAM E. STROBACH.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,321,029 Goldberg Nov. 4, 1919 1,596,984 Marks Aug. 24, 19261,678,842 Aiken July 31, 1928 2,160,229 Rupert May 30, 1939 2,313,379Wood Mar. 9, 1943 2,618,191 Martin Nov. 18, 1952

